


When You Return

by MusicalFangirl00193



Series: It ABO verse [1]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, F/M, Fix-It, I may have started this the day I saw the movie, I've said this fic is my seratonin dump haven't I?, M/M, Mpreg, Multi, Myra Bashing, Soulmates, Stanley Uris Lives, but I just finished the audiobook and need the seratonin, but I've got a couple of chapters written, just a dash, not finished, possibly, why do you ask?, yes it's 2 AM
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-01-24 19:01:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21343156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicalFangirl00193/pseuds/MusicalFangirl00193
Summary: After they kill IT, the Losers spend a lot of time in hospitals. Then they'll move out to California and live in one big house as one big happy family. But first they have to get through the drama.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: It ABO verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1544911
Comments: 8
Kudos: 93





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly stated in story as it becomes relevant, but little lists like this always make me happy at the beginning of stories I read, so you get one too
> 
> Bev-Alpha  
Ben-Omega  
Eddie-Alpha  
Richie-Omega  
Mike-Alpha  
Bill-Omega (also pack leader)  
Stan-Beta

She couldn't stand to be in this hospital one moment longer.

And, judging by the wary looks the nurses at the desk were giving her, the suppressants she'd forgotten to pack had finally worn off and she was filling the waiting room with the scent of agitated alpha.

"Hey, Bev," Ben's soothing scent enveloped her as he stepped in front of her, putting gentle hands on her shoulders. "I was just thinking about heading back to the inn. Eddie just got out of surgery and he's in stable condition. Mike offered to look after Richie for the night, we can take the next shift."

Bev nodded, taking deep breaths of Ben's scent and finding that she'd stopped the all but vibrating she'd been doing the last few hours. "Okay, yeah. That sounds like a plan. Bill?"

"He said he'd stay too, Mike's probably going to end up having to drag him out of here."

"Is he going to be better or worse than Richie?" Bev asked with a laugh, letting Ben steer the way out of the hospital to his car in the parking lot.

"I don't even want to think about that," Ben groaned. "Did you hear what the doctor said about him surviving?"

Bev shook her head as they got into the car. "No, what?"

"Only reason Eddie survived is because of his bond. With his soulmate."

"I thought Eddie said his wife was a beta."

"She is," Ben agreed. "Doc also said the bond predated Myra, by almost 30 years."

"You're kidding me," Bev breathed. "Richie?"

"Might be the reason he's never found anyone," Ben said with half a shrug and a glance at Bev as they pulled out of the parking lot. "I know it's the reason I didn't."

"Ben, I…"

"It's okay," Ben said, taking Bev's hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it when she reached out for him. "Not your fault you forgot."

"You didn't."

"I wasn't running from an abusive father when I left Derry," Ben countered. "We're both here now, that should be what matters, right?"

"Right," Bev agreed, returning the kiss to the back of Ben's hand. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"I know how you feel," Ben agreed when they reached the inn. "My door's always open if you need me."

"Thanks, Ben."

* * *

Bev and Ben split up to go to their own rooms to shower and change into sleep clothes, but by the time Bev was clean and dressed for bed, the room felt too small and too quiet and too empty to stay in any longer than she absolutely had to.

She only let herself hesitate a few seconds before heading down the hall to Ben's room, right next to hers. Bev knocked lightly on the door, second-guessing herself the whole time.

"It's open!" Ben called back, voice muffled enough to make her think he was still in the bathroom.

Bev opened the door, locking it behind her as she shut it again. "Shouldn't leave your door open like that," she teased, finding Ben brushing his teeth at the sink. "You never know what kind of weirdo alphas might be lurking around."

Ben spat into the sink and smiled at her in the mirror. "Oh really? And what might these alphas do?"

Bev waited for him to put down the toothbrush before moving to pull him towards her and turning him around. "Maybe something like this," she murmured, leaning up to kiss him.

"I think I can handle that," Ben murmured against her lips. "Got anything worse?"

"That depends," Bev teased. "How much mileage were you wanting to get out of that bed?"

"As much as you're willing to put into it," Ben agreed easily, and Bev could smell the slick already.

"Well let's see what kind of trouble we can get up to tonight."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been writing almost exclusively in this verse for the past week and a half, but a lot of it either won't fit in this story, or won't fit where this story is chronologically at this point, so I'm gonna make this a series so I can post the extra bits and bobs as I feel they're needed. 
> 
> ...or if I run out of main story to post.
> 
> Enjoy!

It turns out that spending the night with the only omega you've ever loved, the only person in the world who can make you feel safe and complete, can trigger the bond that half-formed when the two of you had your puppy love courting phase that summer 27 years ago. Even if you hadn't seen them for most of those years.

And having fantastic, mind-blowing sex with that omega, resulting in the first knot you've had since you presented, well, that just finishes the bonding process quite nicely.

"Shit," Bev murmured when she woke the next morning and seeing the bonding mark she’d left on his neck the night before. "I'm sorry Ben, I should have--"

"I'm not," Ben cut her off. "I'm not sorry we bonded. I've been in love with you since I was 12, Beverly. But if this isn't something you want, we can sever the bond."

"No," Bev shook her head firmly, crossing the room to pull a dejected-looking Ben into a hug. "This is absolutely what I want, have wanted, for longer than I can literally remember."

Ben laughed softly. "We should go relieve Mike of Richie sitting duty.

"Alright," Bev agreed, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to Ben's nose. "I love you."

"Love you too," Ben returned, pressing a kiss to Bev's lips. "Let's go."

* * *

"We brought coffee," Bev announced herself as she opened the door to Eddie's room.

"You are a goddess among women, Beverly Marsh," Mike sighed, taking a cup she offered. "Where's Ben?" 

"He had to take a call from the office," Bev said, drinking her own coffee. "Bill?"

"Got a call from Stan's wife, sounded important."

Bev nodded. "How've they been?" she asked, gesturing to the bed where Richie had managed to climb in with Eddie without jostling the unconscious man too much.

"Doctors say he's healing a lot faster than they expected," Mike said. "Richie climbed in just before midnight. Nobody had the heart to tell him to get out."

“Wazzat?” Richie stirred in the bed, turning to face Bev and Mike, apparently smelling the coffee. 

“You awake, Trashmouth?” Bev asked.

“No,” Richie nuzzled back into Eddie carefully.

“I have coffee.”

Richie turned to look at her, squinting in her direction since he didn’t have his glasses on. “No joke?”

“I don’t joke about coffee, Tozier.”

“Gimmie.”

“Gotta get out of bed before you can have coffee.”

Richie considered that for a moment before carefully untangling from Eddie, grabbing his glasses from the table next to the bed. “Give me the coffee, Marsh.”

“Bossy,” Bev teased as she handed him a cup. “How are you holding up, Richie?”

“I’m fine,” Richie said, hiding his face behind the cup. “Better when Eddie wakes up.”

“I’m sure everyone will be,” Mike agreed as the door opened, admitting Bill, running a hand through his hair and staring at the phone in his hand as if he couldn’t believe it was real.

“Coffee?” Bev offered, trying to pull Bill back into the room from wherever his phone call had taken him.

“Stan’s alive.”

“What?” all three conscious Losers asked at once.

“That was Patty, Stan’s wife. He...he was in a coma, after he tried to kill himself. He just woke up.”

“Shit,” Richie breathed, “Is he okay?”

“He tried to kill himself just over a week ago,” Bill said sharply. “What the fuck do you think, Richie?”

“Sorry,” Richie said, the first honest apology anyone had heard from him in a long while. “Dumb question. Better question, what’s the plan, Big Bill?”

Bill did a quick headcount before answering, a childhood instinct he’d regained in the past week, freezing when the number doesn’t add up to what it should have. “Where’s Ben?” 

“Here,” Ben said from the door behind Bill. “What’s up?” he asked as he made his way to Bev’s side.

She explained the situation to him as he took a sip of her coffee.

“Okay,” he said with a nod, once he was caught up. “What the plan?”

“It’s a full day’s drive to Atlanta from here,” Bill said, looking at a Google Maps window on his phone.

“Only a couple hours if you fly," Ben pointed out. "Airport isn't too far."

"Maybe," Bill mused. "Eddie needs someone here."

"You're absolutely nuts if you think I'm leaving Eddie," Richie immediately objected.

"We can stay here and watch Richie," Bev offered, "You go to Stan."

"I don't need watching," Richie groaned as everyone continued ignoring him.

"Go kick his ass for us," Ben said. "Keep him safe until the rest of us can join in."

"Sounds like a plan," Mike said with a nod. "Bill?"

Bill nodded, "Richie?"

"Stan needs some Loser love," Richie shrugged. "Eddie's got all of us here, Stan needs someone too." 

“I’ll go with you,” Mike said, “None of us need to be alone right now.”

Bill nodded once, now that the matter had been decided. "I need to grab my things from the inn, Mike?"

"Give me five minutes at the library and I'll be good to go," Mike said.

"You guys good here?"

"We can always call you if something comes up," Bev assured him. "Go, the longer you stall here, the longer Stan's alone."

That kicked Bill into gear faster than anything else could have. "Please don't burn down the hospital while we're gone," he said, hugging and scenting the three Losers and hugging Eddie as best he could with the alpha laying flat. "I don't want to have to come back here and bail any of you out of lockup."

"We wouldn't do anything," Richie said, sounding honestly offended. "Not while Eddie's in here at least."

"Not as reassuring as you might think, Trashmouth," Bill said, giving him one last hug. "I'll call as soon as we land in Atlanta."

"Be safe," Ben said as the two left. 

"And then there were four," Richie said with a spooky voice and a yawn.

"You need to get some sleep," Bev said as the only conscious alpha in the room as well as being the person with the most common sense and brain cells working in tandem.

"I'm not leaving."

"Well, you can't sleep very well in the bed with Eddie, not with all the doctors who are going to be coming in and out during the day."

"How about you sleep on the couch?" Ben offered, "That's what it's there for, anyway. And you do kinda look dead on your feet, Richie."

"Alright," Richie capitulated with a sigh. "Promise you'll wake me up if anything changes?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die," Ben said, holding up a hand.

"You better," Richie all but growled as he settled into the couch. Once he shut his eyes, he was asleep within seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I am soft for Benverly and it shows, the opening of this chapter was one of my favorite thing to write
> 
> 2) Little bit of world building of my ABO verse here, more in the next chapter. I am a slut for world building (kinda why I have a hard time finishing anything) so hit me with any questions if you've got em and I'll answer either in a comment or via story bits


	3. Chapter 3

Myra showed up three days into Eddie's time at the hospital and made herself known by screeching at the nurses that she had a right to know where her husband was.

Bev had been returning to the room with lunch for all present Losers. The noise drew her attention and she tapped the woman on the shoulder. "Excuse me," Beverly said, putting on the smile she only pulled out when she had to talk to irritating people at work events or recalcitrant suppliers. "Did I hear that you were looking for Eddie Kaspbrak's room?"

The woman looked her up and down disdainfully. "Yes, I am. He's my husband."

"My friends and I have been looking after him the past couple of days," Beverly said, assuming Myra's use of the word husband was just a habit she hadn't broken yet since she should already know by now that Eddie had had a pre-existing bond that was now fully formed, therefore negating the marriage. An official letter had been sent to her, since Eddie was still unconscious, informing her that she was no longer Eddie's next of kin or anything else her position as his wife would have entailed. "He's still unconscious, but I can show you to his room if you'd like."

"Finally," Myra huffed, "At least somebody around here is willing to help. Those other nurses were absolutely no help.”

“That’s probably because you’re not on the visitor’s list, you'll have to ask Richie if you want on it.”

Myra scoffed, “Edward is my husband, why would I need anybody’s permission?”

“You didn’t get the letter?” Bev asked, pausing before the door of Eddie’s room.

“Of course not, do you know how dirty the postal system is?”

“Shit,” Bev hissed, setting down the plastic bag with their lunches. “Myra, you really should have read that letter.” Bev pulled her phone out of her pocket, pulling up the picture she’d taken of the letter and handing it to Myra.

Myra skimmed the letter, obviously uninterested, until something near the end obviously caught her eye, causing her to reread the whole thing before shoving the phone back at Bev. “Let me in there.”

“Not gonna happen,” Bev said, picking up the bag. “I have to check with Richie first. You can wait in the waiting room down the hall.” Myra didn’t move to go to the waiting room, and Bev didn’t move to open the door. “Go, I’ll see what Richie wants to do.”

Myra huffed, storming off to the waiting room Bev had gestured towards.

Bev waited a moment to make sure the other woman wouldn’t come back before opening the door.

“You were lurking out there for a while,” Ben noted when she shut the door behind her. “Everything okay?”

“Myra’s here,” Bev sighed, handing Ben the bag of food to sort out as she collapsed into the chair next to him. “I sent her to the waiting room, said I’d have to check with Richie first. Speaking of…?” She raised an eyebrow at the conspicuous lack of noisy omega.

"Sent him to shower, he's been in there a while and he reeks. I figure I'll give him ten more minutes before I make sure he didn't fall asleep. What did Myra want?"

"She didn't know about the annulment," Bev answered. "Are you okay? You hate mustard."

Ben paused, looking at the small packet of mustard he was putting on his turkey sandwich. "I don't know," he half shrugged, "It just sounds really good right now. So Myra didn't know she's newly single? Bet she didn't like that."

"Honestly, I've got half a mind to call security just in case," Bev admitted. "I had to show her a copy of the annulment letter on my phone and she seemed pissed."

"Who's pissed?" Richie asked, coming out of the bathroom, towel still on his head. "Good to see you didn't die on the way to the cafeteria, by the way, Bev," he added, grabbing the last sandwich and returning to his chair at Eddie's bedside. "What's up?"

"Myra's here," Bev said simply. "Looks like she wants to stir up some shit."

"Fuck," Richie sighed, setting down the sandwich without taking a bite. "Waiting room?"

"Eat your food first," Ben insisted, "Let her stew for a little bit."

"Good idea," Richie said with a laugh, picking up the sandwich again and taking a large bite. "Got any chips?"

"Chew your food before opening your mouth, Tozier," Ben chided, throwing a bag of Flaming Hot Doritos at him.

Richie just laughed, eating the rest of his sandwich in much more reasonably sized bites before moving on to the chips and accepting the bottle of water Bev offered him. 

"Alright," he finally sighed. "I guess I should go talk to her."

"Want some backup?" Ben asked. 

"I wouldn't mind it," he admitted. "But someone needs to stay here with Eddie."

"I will," Bev offered. "You go deal with the wicked witch of the east coast."

Richie snorted a laugh as he stood and brushed away the crumbs that had gathered on his shirt as he ate. "Come on, Benny boy," Richie said, pressing a kiss to Eddie's forehead. "I wanna be back in time for the call with the others."

Ben nodded, following Richie out of the room, blowing a kiss for his alpha as he left.

"This is going to end in tears," Bev murmured, watching the two omegas leave before looking over to Eddie. "I'm kind of glad you're not awake to see the mess he's making."

* * *

"Myra!" Richie affected a far too cheery smile and tone. "Glad to see you could make it!"

The woman looked Richie up and down once before turning her nose up. "And I assume you're the one who I have to speak to in order to gain access to my own husband's room? Honestly, as soon as he gets out of this place we're suing everyone."

"Husband?" Richie cut off the rant he could feel building. "I don't think I know your husband, is he nice?"

"You don't...my husband is Edward Kaspbrak."

"No," Richie said as if speaking to a small child. "Eddie is my mate, his marriage was annulled on the grounds of a previously unknown soulmate bond activating itself. You should have received a letter in the mail about it."

"That's not possible," Myra seethed. "My husband isn't gay."

"I don't think you have a husband," Richie said seriously. "Unless you got remarried in the last three days, which would be an impressive turnaround." An alarm went off on Richie's watch. "And that's my five-minute warning for the call with the others. You're welcome to stay here, but you're not getting into Eddie's room unless he wakes up and specifically asks for you." Richie turned to head out. "Have a nice day!" he said brightly.

"You little," Myra lunged at him, only to be intercepted by two alpha security guards Bev must have called from Eddie's room.

"Can you keep her away from us?" Ben asked one of the security guards. "I'm a little worried she might try to attack one of us."

One of the security guards nodded, "We'll hand her over to the police. She probably won't see any jail time, but she may have to take a couple of classes on inter-dynamic relations."

Ben nodded. "Thank you," he said, following Richie to Eddie's room.

"No problem, this kind of thing happens more often than you think."

"That's a terrifying thought," Ben murmured under his breath as he left the waiting room proper to join Richie and Bev.

* * *

Eddie woke up two weeks after the battle with Pennywise, mid-panic attack, at four AM.

"Eddie, Eddie, hey, we're here, you're safe," Richie was almost on top of Eddie. "IT's dead, everyone's fine, can you hear me?"

"Richie?" Eddie's voice was hoarse from the weeks of unconsciousness. "What? Where?"

"I'm here," Richie breathed, handing Eddie a small cup of water. "You're at the hospital in Derry, we weren't able to move you before you woke up."

"Where is everybody?"

"Bev and Ben went to see if they could find something to settle Ben's stomach, Mike and Bill are with Stan in Atlanta."

"He's alive?"

"Almost as surprising as your survival," Richie said with a wry chuckle. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, actually. How long was I out?"

"Two weeks," Richie sighed, "Longest two weeks of my life."

"You're bonded," Eddie had apparently just caught the small difference in Richie's scent. "How...who?"

Richie was quiet, hesitating for a moment. "You," he answered quietly. "You're my alpha, and…" Richie hesitated again. "We bonded spontaneously when you got injured. The doctor said it was probably the only reason you survived the..." Richie mimed a spear through his chest. "We can...we can break the bond, if you want," he offered, even though it hurt him down to his soul.

"No!" Eddie burst out. "No, I don't...unless you…"

"No," Richie agreed. "I really don't want to break it either."

Eddie smiled brightly, not noticing as Ben and Bev returned to the room. "Get down here you dork, I can't kiss you all the way up there."

Richie smiled and leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Eddie's lips.

“Finally,” Bev sighed. “Good to see you awake, Eddie, maybe Richie will stop moping now.”

“And shower more,” Ben put in. “All the love in the world, man, but you stink.”

“You’re the one that smell’s coming from!” Eddie realized.

“Yeah, he reeks,” Ben snorted.

“No, well, yeah, he kinda does, but that’s not what I meant.” Eddie looked at Ben, “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” 

“You’re pregnant.”

Richie laughed, “Your nose is messing with you, Spaghetti. No way Benny boy here’s pregnant.”

“Well,” Ben’s hand went to the mating bite on his neck. “Technically…”

“No way he’d be able to smell it on you! It’s only been two weeks!”

“You know my nose is exceptionally sensitive,” Eddie countered. 

“Ben?” Bev’s voice drew Eddie and Richie out of their argument.

“My heat’s late,” Ben admitted. “I kinda just assumed it was all the stress from the last couple of weeks. But there have been a few other...”

“Your stomach’s been upset a lot, and the mustard,” Bev continued when Ben trailed off.

"It's possible," Ben murmured. "I... surprise?"

Bev smiled brightly, pulling Ben in for a kiss that Richie swore was more foreplay than just kiss, “We’re going to be parents.”

“We are,” Ben agreed with a slightly watery smile of his own.

“That was so sappy,” Richie stage-whispered to Eddie, breaking Ben and Bev’s moment.

“You’re such an asshole,” Eddie sighed, pulling Richie down to sit on the bed next to him. 

“You love it.”

“Unfortunately,” Eddie said with a fond sigh. “Congratulations, guys.”

“Yeah,” Richie said, smile bright on his face. "Seriously, congrats."


	4. Chapter 4

The Losers decide to move out to California. Richie and Bill both lived in southern California, so it wasn't difficult for the two of them to find a house big enough for the pack of eight, with room to grow.

The worst part was the fact that Eddie hadn't been cleared for air travel, leaving the majority of the Losers stuck in a car as they drove across the country. Bill, Mike, and Stan, along with Stan's son, Jonathan, had flown ahead to get everything ready while the other four drove, making pit stops at each Loser's former home to pack what they would need for their new life in LA.

* * *

Richie let out a low whistle. "Living in the lap of luxury, weren't you Eddie? You sure you wanna start slumming it with us?"

Eddie snorted as he opened the door to the apartment. "You do remember the approximately three weeks we spent giving Bill a list of requirements? The fact that they've found a place big enough for all of us, in our price range, on such short notice, is nothing short of a miracle. No way in hell am I staying here while the rest of you live it up in California."

"Edward Kaspbrak, you watch your mouth in this house."

"Myra?" Eddie turned, surprised to see his ex-wife standing at the end of the hallway. "I thought you'd be at work."

"Edward, honestly," she sighed. "I don't know why you felt the need to bring this," she looked disdainfully at Richie, "Omega, into our home, but it needs to leave."

"I kind of regret agreeing to split up with Bev," Richie murmured, drawing a laugh from Eddie.

"That fucking hurts, asshole!" Eddie said, smacking Richie's arm as the comedian laughs.

"Edward!" Myra lets out a scandalized gasp.

Eddie turns back to look at her. "Myra, I'm just here to grab my stuff and I'll be out of your life forever."

"Edward," Myra says, voice soft and eyes starting to water with crocodile tears. "You can't just leave me with nothing."

"I'm not, Myra," Eddie said, pushing his way through to the bedroom, "All I'm taking with me are my clothes and movies and junk. You can keep the house and every else. You get to tell all your friends how I just left you in the dust to move to California with a strange omega and just left you with the whole house and half of everything you've never worked for." Eddie finished throwing the last of his clothes in his large suitcase, closing it before going to his bedside table and grabbing the small box from where it was shoved in the very back of the ridiculously large drawer. He turned to face his ex-wife. "Maybe you'll find somebody new to yell at soon and you'll never even realize I'm gone." He carefully sets the suitcase on the floor, making sure to use the wheels so that he didn't pull at his stitches too much.

Richie had just finished the first box of movies when Eddie found him in the living room. "Hey, Spaghetti man," Richie said with a bright smile. "Your taste in movies is still shit."

"Just because I don't agree with you 100%," Eddie sighed as he went to grab the few pictures he wanted to keep from the wall Myra had arranged. One of them was the only picture he had left of his father, little as he could remember the man. "Doesn't mean they're bad movies."

Richie just rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Eds. We got everything?"

Eddie ran through his mental list of everything he needed to grab, skimming through the three boxes Richie had packed by himself. "Just one more thing," Eddie said, going to the kitchen and pulling a single mug from the back of the cabinet he could just barely reach, wrapping it in newspaper before returning to the living room and packing it carefully in the same box as the picture of his father. "Okay, that's everything." He looked around at the boxes. "My entire life, in five cardboard boxes and a suitcase."

"You've got us too, Eddie," Richie reminded him, surprisingly serious.

"I know," Eddie responded with a smile. "Let's go, I want to see how well Ben actually did for himself before we leave for Chicago."

Richie laughed with a nod as he grabbed the cart they'd left by the front door and started loading it up.

Eddie watched for a moment before turning to look at the house he'd lived in for the last 12 years one last time.

"Edward," Myra had come out of the bedroom and had apparently decided to try one more time to get him to stay. "Please, what am I going to do without you?"

"I don't know, Myra," Eddie said, taking off his wedding ring and handing it to her. "It's not my problem anymore."

Richie loaded the suitcase on the cart last and they were ready to go.

Eddie left his keys on the table in the entry hall and never looked back.

* * *

"Your heat's coming up," Eddie murmured, pressing a kiss to Richie's forehead as they slowly woke up in the hotel they'd crashed in when they reached Chicago late last night.

"Hopefully we'll be home before it hits," Richie responded. "I don't have any suppressants and I don't want my first heat with my alpha to be in some anonymous hotel in the middle of nowhere."

"Don't worry, babe," Eddie stood, carefully stretching. "I've got something that might help."

Richie made an intrigued noise, but made no move to get up, watching Eddie as he moved to dig around in his suitcase, clad in just a pair of boxers and one of Richie's old tour shirts.

"Ah-ha," Eddie made a triumphant noise as he finally pulled a cardboard box the size of a coffee mug out of the case and returned to the bed. "So, you know how even with the forgetting and everything, we still remembered enough to bond?"

"You mean the only thing that kept you alive after that damn clown tried to make Eddie-kabobs?" Richie reached out, the memory jarring even as he tried to make it into a joke.

Eddie let Richie pull him in, settling between the Omega's spread legs, back to chest. "Yeah, that," he played with the box in his hands for a moment before taking a deep breath and calming his nerves. "Well, apparently the life-saving wasn't the only thing it did. This," he set the box down on his crossed legs as he carefully undid the folded top flaps. "Is something I started collecting in college, saving and scraping money together for...I didn't even know what." He turned to look at Richie, who was watching over his shoulder. "This is the 27 years of missed courting presents I hoarded away for you."

"Eddie," Richie's eyes are distinctly not wet, thank you very much, as he looks at the box like it's something holy. "I...I can't…"

"I know it's not much," Eddie shrugged self-consciously, "Especially considering it's supposed to be make-up for 27 years, but I…"

"I love you," Richie pressed a kiss to the scarring mark on Eddie's cheek. "Show me what you got for me, Alpha."

Hearing to Richie call him Alpha sends a shiver of warmth down Eddie's spine as he picks through the small box to find the first item he'd ever bought for his Omega.

"I saw this in a shop window," Eddie said, pulling a small jewelry box out. "It was around Halloween, and I saw this and I just…" Eddie opened the box and took out the ring. It was an intricate silver spider web with two small blue spiders on it, one a much lighter shade than the other. "Guy at the shop said the stones are aquamarine and sapphire."

Richie huffed a laugh, letting Eddie take his hand and slide the ring on his finger. "Our birthstones," Richie said quietly. "I love it."

A flood of warmth filled Eddie's chest at knowing his Omega appreciated the gift he'd selected for him. "I've got a couple of other things, if you…"

"I want to see," Richie curled further around Eddie. "I want to see everything."

Eddie laughed and pulled out the next thing he wanted to show Richie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idea of Omega courting jewelry comes from an Avengers fic, Paint my Spirit Gold by katydidmischief.
> 
> Honestly, this idea probably isn't completely uncommon, but that's were I got it from!


	5. Chapter 5

The house Beverly and her ex-husband had shared was nothing short of a mansion.

It didn't hold a candle to the house the Losers would be moving into when they got to California, but that was for a growing pack, while this was solely for two alphas who hadn't bonded properly.

"You okay, Bev?" Ben asked, standing next to his mate.

"I'll be fine," she offered with a tense smile. "Ready to be done here."

"I think Richie's got the last load on the cart, anything else you need to grab?"

"I'm just gonna do one last walk through," Bev said, "Make sure I've got everything. Make sure Richie doesn't steal and/or break anything?"

"I will do my best," Ben said, leaning in for a kiss. "No promises."

"I love you," she murmured against his lips.

"Love you too," Ben's smile was bright as he left the room to check on the others.

Bev looked around the room one last time, making sure the only things left were Tom's before she picked up the trunk she'd dug out from the back of her closet and headed downstairs.

Halfway down, she heard a crash, louder than Richie knocking anything over would be. She all but ran the rest of the way down the stairs, setting her trunk next to a table in the hall before checking the living room, where Eddie had been waiting while they finished packing.

Tom stood in the middle of the room, face-to-face with Richie, who looked more pissed than Bev had ever seen him.

Ben and Eddie stood in the corner, clinging to each other as they stared at the confrontation happening in the middle of the room. Ben had a red mark under his eye, one Bev was all too familiar with. Somebody had punched him, and in the days to come it would develop into an absolutely spectacular shiner. Eddie was standing carefully too, as if he'd tried to get between the two even with his still healing chest wound.

But Bev could barely look past the darkening mark on Ben's cheek.

"Richie." Beverly had never growled before, but it still had its intended effect, causing Richie to back off, using the energy he wanted to use beating Tom to a pulp to check on Eddie. "Thomas, what happened to the oh so important boys night out? The one that you absolutely had to be at every week while we were married? Don't tell me you skipped out on that to beat a pregnant Omega and a wounded Alpha. What would all your friends at the alpha club have to say about that?" She kept her voice sweet, but she knew the venom she felt towards her former husband showed in her eyes.

"Beverly," Tom growled, using his alpha voice on every word, just like he always did when trying to intimidate Bev. "You are absolutely fucking crazy if you think I'm going to let you get away. I am your alpha, you have to listen to me."

Beverly slapped him across the face, the action so surprising and the force so great that it threw him to the ground. "You are not my alpha," she spat. "And you never were." She dropped her keys on top of the hand that had fallen palm up. "Put that with the damn ring. And," she glanced at Ben, who was having his eye checked by Eddie, Richie still glaring daggers at the man on the floor. "If you ever come near me or my pack again, you'll get so much worse than just a slap."

She crossed the room to her omega, feeling safe turning her back on Tom when he was conscious for the first time since she'd meet the man. "Are you okay?" She cradled Ben's face gently in her hands. "Did he get you anywhere else?"

"I'm fine, Bev," Ben leaned into the touch. "Got Eddie pretty bad though."

"I'm fine," Eddie shook his head. "Let's get out of here."

The other three agreed immediately, Bev's hand moving to take Ben's as she led the way out of the house, pausing only momentarily to grab the trunk she'd left in the hallway on the way out.

* * *

"You've been quiet this evening," Bev murmured, pressing a kiss to Ben's shoulder as she came up behind him. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"It's nothing," Ben says, moving away from the full-length mirror he'd been staring into.

"That's a lie," Bev followed him to the bed. "You forget I can read you like a book, Hanscom."

"It's nothing, Bev, really."

"Ben, baby, please. I wanna help."

Ben sighed, curling in on himself in the middle of the bed, leaving space for Bev to choose where she wanted to lay. 

She chose to curl up in front of him, pulling the sheet up over their heads like the makeshift tents they had made as kids. "What's going on?" she asked in the safety of their cocoon, face barely inches from Ben's.

"I'm gonna get fat again," Ben whispered, barely loud enough for Bev to hear despite how close they were. "I'm just...gonna swell up like a damn balloon. It was ridiculously hard to lose all that weight as a kid and now…"

"You're not going to get fat." Bev pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. "You are going to be pregnant, there's a difference. And," she held up a finger before Ben could object. "Even if you did get fat, there is absolutely no way I would ever love you any less. None of the Losers would. You, Ben Hanscom, are the sweetest, gentlest soul I've ever met, and the adorable body it's housed in is just extra sweet icing on a very nice cake."

"Really?" Ben looked like he was about to start crying. "You really…?"

"Of course," Bev leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Ben's lips. "I love you."

"Love you too," Ben murmured into the kiss. "You said you had something to show me?"

"Right," Bev stood slowly, giving Ben a chance to pull her back down if he decided he needed her in bed with him more than he wanted to see her surprise. He didn't, sitting up to see what she was doing as she crossed the room. She went to the trunk and rifled around in it for a minute before coming back to the bed with several small boxes and one larger one in her hands. "So, once upon a time," she started, "When I was just starting out in fashion and trying to find my niche, I worked with a jeweler to make a line. It didn't work out, obviously, but I got to keep the sample set of the omega courting jewelry we made." She set the boxes in front of her. “What do you want to see first?" 

"You…" Ben looked between the boxes on the bed, Bev herself, and the trunk on the other side of the room. "Is that trunk…?"

"Most of it's for you," Bev said with a shrug. "I found, or made, a couple of things over the years for the others, but most of it...it's all you, Ben."

"But you didn't even…"

"Not consciously," Bev agreed. "But subconsciously, I must have." She picked up the largest box. "I kinda want you to start with this one."

Ben took the box, opening it with reverent fingers. "Is this…?"

"A belly chain," Bev said simply. "First piece I made, designed especially for you."

"Bev, I…" Ben's eyes started welling with tears. "I love it."

"Here," Bev stood from the bed. "Stand up, I wanna see you in the whole set."

Ben stood, letting Bev take the belly chain from his hands and settle it so that it rested just below his belly button when the clasp closed at the small of his back. She picked each successive piece with care, an anklet made of the same soft gold as the belly chain that now covered half his abdomen, a set of ear cuffs designed to look like flames curling protectively rather than harmfully, an arm cuff that reminded Ben of Wonder Woman's if it had sat lower on his arm, a bracelet of several fine chains that looked complete on its own but with several places for charms, a necklace that's loops reached just below his pecs, rings on three fingers that had such intricate carvings he could look for a year and not see all the details. The final piece was his favorite though. Bev hesitated for the first time, and Ben opened eyes that he couldn't quite remember closing, making a curious noise as he did.

"One last piece," Bev told him. "It's a choker, your choice."

Ben considered the question for barely half a second before nodding, the motion causing the chains of his necklace to jostle each other.

Bev let out a bright laugh and stepped forward, carefully fastening the choker around Ben's neck, just tight enough to be felt. It accentuated his mating bite absolute beautifully, which must have been Bev's intention by her satisfied sound. "What do you think?" she asked, leading Ben to the mirror he'd been staring into earlier. 

Ben looked over the jewelry, eyes lingering over each piece and how they worked together and with his skin tone. "They're beautiful."

"You're beautiful," Bev corrected. "This only accentuates what's already there."

“You are a sap, Beverly Marsh.”

“That’s Beverly Hanscom to you,” Beverly said, both teasing and serious as she led Ben back to the bed so she could properly appreciate the jewelry on him.

“You’re sure?” Ben asked as she settled him on the bed, following her gentle touch as easily as if the force behind them was hard enough to leave bruises.

“Positive,” Bev agreed, pressing a firm kiss to Ben’s lips and showing him just how serious she was.

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for shitty summary and rambly tags, it is literally 2:15 a.m. I just finished listening to the audio book and that shit hurt, so here's me trying to make myself feel better. Enjoy.
> 
> Will update as I get more finished and as comments feed my muse.


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